How to Enforce Strong ECC Signature in iOS Apps

Last updated May 19, 2024 by Appdome

This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Enforce Strong ECC Signature in iOS apps.

What is an ECC Signature?

An ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography) signature is a digital signature created using elliptic curve cryptography, a type of public key cryptography based on the algebraic structure of elliptic curves over finite fields. ECC signatures provide strong security features with smaller key sizes, making them efficient and suitable for mobile devices. In ECC, a private key is used to generate the signature, while the corresponding public key is used for signature verification. This ensures the integrity and authenticity of the app’s data, confirming that it has not been tampered with and verifying the identity of the sender.

How Do Strong ECC Signatures Protect iOS Apps?

Strong ECC signatures protect iOS apps by significantly enhancing their security through robust authentication mechanisms. During the communication process, the server sends a digital certificate to the app, which is signed by a trusted entity known as a Certificate Authority (CA). This certificate utilizes an ECC signature with a key size of at least 256 bits, functioning as a unique fingerprint. Such a robust signature ensures that any unauthorized alterations made to the certificate by attackers will invalidate the signature, thereby alerting the app to potential security breaches. By rigorously enforcing strong ECC signatures, iOS apps can be assured that they are communicating with legitimate servers, not imposters.

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Enforce Strong ECC Signature Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Enforce Strong ECC Signature , you’ll need:

How to Implement Enforce Strong ECC Signature in iOS Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending iOS Apps that Enforce Strong ECC Signature without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Designate the Mobile App to be protected.

    1. Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.

    2. iOS Formats: .ipa
    3. Enforce Strong ECC Signature is compatible with: Obj-C, Java, Swift, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and other iOS apps.
  2. Select the defense: Enforce Strong ECC Signature .

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Enforce Strong ECC Signature feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains Enforce Strong ECC Signature

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Enforce Strong ECC Signature feature

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Enforce Strong ECC Signature feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you select the Enforce Strong ECC Signature you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Enforce Strong ECC Signature .

        Fusion Set applied Enforce Strong ECC Signature

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Enforce Strong ECC Signature protection
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      4. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below): fusion Set Detail Summary image

        Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
    1. Add the Enforce Strong ECC Signature feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > Security tab > Secure Communication section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On > Enforce Strong ECC Signature .

        (a) Choose to monitor this attack vector by checking the Threat Events checkbox associated with Enforce Strong ECC Signature as shown below.

        (b) To receive mobile Threat Monitoring, check the ThreatScope™ box as shown below. For more details, see our knowledge base article on ThreatScope™ Mobile XDR.
        Enforce Strong ECC Signature  option

        Figure 4: Selecting Enforce Strong ECC Signature

        Note: The Appdome Platform displays the Mobile Operation Systems supported by each defense in real-time. For more details, see our OS Support Policy KB.

      3. Select the Threat-Event™ in-app mobile Threat Defense and Intelligence policy for Enforce Strong ECC Signature :
        1. Threat-Events™ OFF > In-App Defense

          If the Threat-Events™ setting is not selected. Appdome will detect and defend the user and app by enforcing Strong ECC Signature .

        2. Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Detection

          When this setting is used, Appdome detects the use of a weak certificate signature and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing, enforcement, and user notification. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ to Enforce Strong ECC Signature Enforce Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.

        3. Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Defense

          When this setting is used, Appdome detects and defends against Strong ECC Signature (same as Appdome Enforce) and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ for Enforce Strong ECC Signature Enforce Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.

      4. Configure the User Experience Options for Enforce Strong ECC Signature :
        With Threat-Events™ OFF, Appdome provides several user experience options for mobile brands and developers.
        1. App Compromise Notification: Customize the pop-up or toast Appdome uses to notify the user when a threat is present while using the protected mobile app.
        2. Short message Option. This is available for mobile devices that allow a banner notification for security events.
        3. Localized Message Option. Allows Appdome users to support global languages in security notifications.

          Localized Message

          Figure 5: Default User Experience Options for Appdome’s Strong ECC Signature

        4. Enforce Strong ECC Signature Threat Code™. Appdome uses AI/ML to generate a unique code each time Enforce Strong ECC Signature is triggered by an active threat on the mobile device. Use the code in Appdome Threat Resolution Center™ to help end users identify, find and resolve active threats on the personal mobile devices.
    2. Initiate the build command either by clicking Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 4) or via your CI/CD as described in Section 2.1.4.
    Congratulations!  The Enforce Strong ECC Signature protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Enforce Strong ECC Signature feature in iOS Apps

    After building Enforce Strong ECC Signature , Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Enforce Strong ECC Signature protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Enforce Strong ECC Signature protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Enforce Strong ECC Signature  shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 6: Certified Secure™ certificate

    Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Enforce Strong ECC Signature has been added to each iOS app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Enforce Strong ECC Signature and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.

Using Threat-Events™ for Strong ECC Signature Intelligence and Control in iOS Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when Strong ECC Signature is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for Strong ECC Signature in iOS Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for Strong ECC Signature shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Strong ECC Signature are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Enforce Strong ECC Signature Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Enforce Strong ECC Signature
Threat-Event Mode
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging.
ON, IN-APP DETECTION Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce).
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection).
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check
Visible in ThreatScope™
Developer Parameters for Enforcing Strong ECC Signature Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME SslInvalidMinECCSignature
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event REF 6801
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore Total Threat-events score
Threat-Event Context Keys
message Message displayed for the user on event
failSafeEnforce Timed enforcement against the identified threat
externalID The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events
osVersion OS version of the current device
deviceModel Current device model
deviceManufacturer The manufacturer of the current device
fusedAppToken The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app
kernelInfo Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine.
deviceID Current device ID
reasonCode Reason code of the occurred event
buildDate Appdome fusion date of the current application
devicePlatform OS name of the current device
updatedOSVersion Is the OS version up to date
timeZone Time zone
deviceFaceDown Is the device face down
locationLong Location longitude conditioned by location permission
locationLat Location latitude conditioned by location permission
locationState Location state conditioned by location permission
wifiSsid Wifi SSID
wifiSsidPermissionStatus Wifi SSID permission status
threatCode The last six characters of the threat code specify the OS, allowing the Threat Resolution Center to address the attack on the affected device.
host The host that failed minimum requirement ECC signature validation
DeveventDetailedErrorMessage Error message
extendedMessageText Extended message
certificateCN Certificate common name
certificateSHA1 Certificate SHA1

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), iOS developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in iOS applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when Strong ECC Signature is detected.


The following is a code sample for native iOS apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Enforce Strong ECC Signature :


Important! Replace all placeholder instances of <Context Key> with the specific name of your threat event context key across all language examples. This is crucial to ensure your code functions correctly with the intended event data. For example, The <Context Key> could be the message, externalID, OS Version, reason code, etc.



Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured iOS Apps by using Enforce Strong ECC Signature . There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.

Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Enforce Strong ECC Signature

After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:

Related Articles:

How Do I Learn More?

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

Thank you!

Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

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